Dragon's War (3): Neither Tyranny Nor Persuasion

Neither tyranny nor persuasion would work. How on earth was I supposed to handle those arrogant dragons who thought they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were above the heavens themselves? How do you control the uncontrollable?

Then, in that moment, a bolt of lightning flashed through my mind. If they won't listen to me, then I can just have the ones they listen to tell them what to do! And above all, I had the perfect candidates for the job!

"Mom?! You called us again?!"

"Please stop summoning us like this! I was in the middle of something and got dragged here!"

"Yeah... I'm fine with it."

"Sagar and I always have plenty of time anyway. You can call us anytime. But what's going on all of a sudden?"

I silently pointed at the red dragons and black dragons. The moment Ifrit and Erebos saw the battered, wounded dragons, their expressions hardened.

"These kids started fighting, and some dragons ended up dead."

"Uh, um, Mom? They're a bit willful, sure... but kids fight sometimes, right?"

"Is taking each other's lives what you call 'kids fighting a little'? Dragon birth rates are already plummeting, and our numbers are dwindling. And yet here they are, killing each other over petty disputes..."

I let out a deep sigh before continuing.

"At least I made a rule forbidding harm to hatchlings... so the newly born ones have been safe. But without that rule, those reckless fools definitely would've killed the hatchlings too."

It had actually escalated into full-scale war in some timelines.

"Anyway, I can't suppress all the kids myself. So you take responsibility for your children."

"Me? Those troublemakers?"

"My kids are pretty obedient, at least... but what am I supposed to do if the others pick fights with them?"

"Obedient? The black dragons? Those maniacs who breed like rabbits?!"

"Yeah! No way the blacks listen! They've got so many numbers! Lately, double digits of the new hatchlings are black ones!! That's not fair!"

"Isn't it just that the other colors are passive about growing their families? I don't think that's something to call unfair."

Well, about half the hatchlings were black dragons, after all.

"Anyway, these kids were born because of you, so manage them properly. I can't handle all of them myself."

"Even something impossible for you, Mother?"

I sighed at Erebos's words.

"Yeah, imagine that. I considered forcing it a few times, but it only led to ruin."

"R... ruin?"

"No, nothing."

No need to mention rewinding time from the future.

"And... if you don't manage them properly, I'll give you a penalty. Should've done ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this sooner..."

"Us? Suddenly?!"

"Oh dear... that must be tough for Erebos with all those kids."

"Mm... our kids. Well-behaved."

"Ours too. They don't fight unless provoked first. Should be fine."

Yggdrasil and Sagarmatha's kids rarely caused issues, so they'd be okay. The real problems were the blacks and reds... but I'd have to leave that to those two.

"Mother, if we get punished for failing to manage them properly, does that mean we get rewarded if we succeed?"

"Hm? A reward?"

Erebos's question left me momentarily speechless. I hadn't even thought of that. Hmm... sure, why not!

"For the next hundred years, to the parents of children who don't kill any other dragons..."

All eyes locked onto me, brimming with anticipation for what I'd say next. It was a bit overwhelming.

"One thing. Anything. Whatever it is, as long as it's within what I can grant."

The kids all stared at me in shock. What? Was it that surprising?

"You mean... anything right now...?"

"Are you serious, Mother?"

"Yeah! Mom! You can't just say stuff like that!"

"Mom! You have to value your own body!!!"

"Yeah... oppose..."

"Oh... oh my! What's gotten into you!"

Wait, why was the mood like this? It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just granting one wish—why the freakout??

"Hmph... looks like none of you are confident in managing your kids? Then this bet... is my victory♥"

Shamash's smug declaration lit a fire under the others.

"I can't let that slide!"

"This is why that empty-headed gold sparkler is so infuriating!"

"Child management? Piece of cake!"

Uh, um... good luck with that, then?

"Oh, and the penalty is confiscating the scales I gave you."

Their faces stiffened at my casual addendum. What? Why? The scales I handed out—if you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don't do your jobs, I take them back. Problem?

And so, my not-a-bet bet—hoping the dragons wouldn't kill each other—

"How did it come to this...?"

—had morphed into a war where they just didn't outright kill one another.

"Sure, I said no killing!!!! But why are they ripping off wings! Severing limbs! Barely keeping each other alive!!!"

I gazed despairingly at the dragons collapsed at my feet, mangled wrecks.

"Especially the black dragons! Erebos!!! Deliberately provoking the others to bait attacks on your own family?! Using them like that!!!"

I clutched my throbbing head.

A war where no lives were taken. Dragons tearing limbs from one another. This wasn't what I'd hoped for.

And what infuriated me most... was that no matter how many times I rewound time, it converged on the same result. Dozens, hundreds of rewinds—tweaking conditions, adding bans, even halting fights outright—yet those cunning kids always exploited the loopholes to spark war...

It made my head spin.

Ban everything, and it becomes tyranny, leading to ruin anyway. They were too smart for their own good, yet refused to listen. If I'd known, I might've just reset everything to zero... No, that's not right. Even in anger, there are lines you don't cross.

I sighed and healed the dragons scattered at my feet. I could fully regenerate their lost flesh, but they'd just dive back into the fray. Same cycle over and over.

Dragons drawing lines by scale color, shunning outsiders. Same color meant family; others were ignored. At this point, I started wondering if dragons were just fundamentally flawed.

Not that I wasn't one... but I was different from those kids. So. Just endure a little longer. Just the set term of a hundred years.

In the plain where all dragons except the oblivious hatchlings and unhatched eggs had gathered.

Where Ifrit—stripped of his scales and reverted to a flame—and all my other children had assembled.

I spoke softly.

"I laid down those conditions hoping you'd stop fighting, but you chased only the rewards, scheming to eliminate each other."

The set term of a hundred years. Not once did the war pause. They just spared lives. Well, even that much failed when a red dragon killed a black one—costing Ifrit his scales, reducing him to flame.

The orphaned reds wandered lost until I took them under protection.

"Mother... but..."

"Silence. Erebos. I didn't give you leave to speak."

Erebos. Erebos... Clever Erebos. Sly Erebos. Why use that brilliant mind to knock out the others? Sacrificing your own family, your children, as bait? It breaks my heart.

"Did you think me weak? Because I was always your kind mother, did my words seem ignorable?"

The children said nothing. They'd grown relying on my kindness, my goodwill, my heart... yet ignored me to run wild. No different.

"I didn't want to be a frightening parent, so I tried gentleness, scolding with words as much as possible."

In the clearing packed with dragons—whole and wounded alike—clustered by color. Even now, in my anger, they divided by scales. I sighed softly.

"My patience has reached its limit. I've endured long, rewound dozens, hundreds of times... but your repeated folly has worn me out."

So.

I'll show you true terror. That you should fear something far greater than hating and fighting each other.

I quietly invoked the spell I'd hoped never to use. Summoning a meteor silently orbiting in cosmic space, then dropping it upon this world.

Meteor.

Meteor Fall.

The universe's world-ending strike tore through the clouds, revealing itself.